Why should we care about other people’s judgement on the way we look?

I’m slim and always have been and some people used to say, “You’re too skinny!”

At the time, I couldn’t quite understand whether they were saying this because they wanted me to feel bad. Feel bad for them because they weren’t ‘as skinny as me’.

But why should we care? Why should we care about other people’s judgement on the way we look? It’s our body.

I have never suffered from any eating disorder, it just happens that I have a higher metabolism than others which means I can convert food into energy quicker. So why is there a need to point out my physical appearance in, what I assumed, a negative way?

If someone is telling you, “you’re too skinny” “you’re so fat” or pointing out anything about the way you look, let me just say this…

You are a gorgeous individual who should feel comfortable in your own body. If you feel like you need to change your size, please don’t change for anyone but yourself. The people who criticize the way you look are usually conscious about their own weight and shape. Nobody, not even the people who criticize others, should feel like they’re unattractive because they look a certain way.

You’re a beautiful human being with an amazing personality to match.

And a great personality is the most attractive attribute of a human being. 🙂

Myself and the lovely Sherina from Sherina Speaks are organising a teen collaboration project called #TeensTellTheirStory where you can express your feelings and gain support. You don’t have to talk about body image, you can talk about whatever you need to. It will run in the Summer holidays and we’d love for you to get involved. Keep a look out for more information on both of our blogs.

Post navigation

10 thoughts on “Why should we care about other people’s judgement on the way we look?”

This is a really important topic which I think isn’t spoken about enough. Self consciousness and body image issues affect so many people, especially teenagers, which often lead to mental illnesses, such as eating disorders, depression, etc. What you said was really thoughtful and very, very true. Topics like this get barely any awareness, much less than they should do. Mental illnesses usually get very underrated, and people often don’t know how serious they are. The reason I am saying this is because someone close to me recently suffered badly from an eating disorder, and it was horrible.
This post was really thoughtful, and also your idea with the #TeensTellTheirStory is amazing!
Btw, sorry that got a bit deep…xx

Thank you, I really appreciate your comment. I’m so sorry for the person who’s close to you. It’s so upsetting when things happen like this. I hope they’re ok now and feel free to show this to them if you think it might help. xx

Caitlin. Thank you for writing this post. You are utterly right – it is terrible, the way people belittle others on account of a physical attribute. But you are correct: personality is the most beautiful aspect of a human. Not what weight you are; not how clear your skin is; not what clothes you wear.

I so identified with this post!! I also have a fast metabolism and have been naturally thin throughout my life, and when people commented on it I never knew if it was a “good thing” or not. I think all body types are perfect, and it’s a shame that sometimes in trying to get this message across people end up shaming thin people!